Process of preparing fat-free chocolate



Patented Nov. 22, 1927.

' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IVAN S. HOCKER, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE HOOKER CORPORATION, 01 PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF DELA- wean.

No Drawing.

My invention relates to a new and novel method of preparing a chocolate from the cacao bean or cocoa which will bepractically free from any fat, chiefly cocoa butter, thereby rendering it available for a number of uses for which it has not been available heretofore due to the relatively large percentage of fat remaining in the chocolate after the rocess of extraction now commonly emp oyed.

In carrying out my invention 1 may start with either the cacao bean of commerce, or any roduct thereof, such as cacao nibs, thoug for practical purposes I prefer to use the commercial cacao bean or cocoa powder, which commercial bean is the natural bean after it has been cured and roasted.

Preparatory to my process, I reduce the cacao bean to a paste of a fine state of division, bymeans of grinding, so that it may be acted upon more readily and uniformly by the several agencies of my process. .Thls finely divided cocoa bean I mix with a considerable quantity of water, approximately one gallon of water to a pound o the ground cacao bean, and maintain the mixture in a suitable container at a temperature of 100 C. for a period of approximately thirty minutes. During this operation all the water soluble parts of the bean such as the sugars and albuminoids are brought into solution, while the insoluble starch is gelatinized by the action of the heat and water makin it more easily decomposable during the su sequent steps of the process.

I next cool this mixture to about 65 'de G. and add a suitable quantity of hydro ytic, or diastatic material, such as ma t extract or syrup, of which a suitable proportion is one ounce of the malt extract to one gallon of the aqueous mixture. This mixture is then maintained at the approximate temperature of 65 degrees C. a suificient length of time to completely hydrolize or saccharify the elatinized starch to produce water solufile sugars chiefly maltose. During this period of 30 minutes more or less, de nding upon the percentage of starch, whic varies with the difierent varieties of cacao beans, there ensures a liberation of the fat. Thus the PROCESS OF PREPARING FAT-FREE CHOCOLATE.

hydrolysis or saccharification of the starch leaves the fat dispersed throughout the mixture in a tree condition.

The mixture is then allowed to stand a suficient length of time to permit the 'liberated fat to coagulate and rise to the surface of the liquid. The fat thus collected on the surface is then skimmed oil and the supernatant liquid is separated from the solid chocolate residue by decantation or filtration, or both.

The resulting product is a solid chocolate extract, free from fat, and also substantially free from starch.

In order to hasten the coagulation of the liberated fats, I may agitate the mixture slowly by means of any suitable stirring device.

It will now be apparent that I have devised a novel and useful process of preparing fat-free chocolate which embodies the features of advantage enumerated as desirable in the statement of the invention and the above description, and while I have, in the present instance, shown and described a preferred embodiment thereof which will give in practice satisfactor and reliable results, it-is to be understoo that the same is susceptible of modification in various particulars without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention or sacrificing any of its advantages.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The process of preparing fat-free chocolate which consists in heating an aqueous mixture of a cacao product sufiiciently to gelatinize the starch constituents thereof, cooling the mixture, subjecting the mixture to hydrolysissuificient to convert the staconstituents to sugars, allowing the mixture to stand a length of time suflicient to Permit the dispersed fats to coagulate and rise to the surface of the mixture, separating the fat from the surface of the mixture, and separatin the supernatant liquid from the fat free 0 ocolate residue. 

